theamenministry

Last night I taught the mid-week Bible study at SweetWater Baptist Church.  We were studying Matthew 28:18-20, Acts 1:8, and other related passages.  When we got to the part about evangelism, I asked two of the questions that I asked in yesterday’s post.  Those questions were, “Have you ever heard of grandparents being trained to share about their grandchildren?” and “Do you have to force a college football fan to talk about their favorite team?”  Their response?  They laughed!  Those wonderful folks got it!  They  understood exactly the point that I was making.

Again, let me say, I am thankful for all the training and evangelism tools that we have.  Training is important.  It helps to prepare us and can give us more confidence as we witness to others.  However, we probably have more trained church members than ever before while we are seeing fewer baptisms than we have in decades.  What’s missing?

I want you to focus on two phrases in Acts 1:8.  Acts 1:8 goes hand-in-hand with Matthew 28:18-20.  What are the two phrases?  “You shall RECEIVE” and “You shall BE.”  Every believer receives the Holy Spirit when we are born again.  However, there is a command in Ephesians 5:18 that we are to be filled with the Holy Spirit.  What does it mean to be filled with the Holy Spirit?

A lot of people make it out to be a lot of different things.  I believe the best understanding is right there in the verse.  In the first half of verse eighteen, Paul writes that we are not to be filled with wine.  When a person is filled with alcohol, it affects the way they think, the way they see things, the way they hear things, the way they walk, talk, act, and react.  We call it, “being under the influence.”  So, when you are filled with and under the influence of the Holy Spirit, it will affect the way you think, the way you see things, hear things, walk, talk, act, and react!  The Great Commission is a command, but so is Ephesians 5:18.

“You shall RECEIVE…You shall BE…”        When you read the first few chapters of the Book of Acts, you see that being filled with the Holy Spirit gave the believers a boldness to share Christ with others.  When Peter and John were dragged before the Council, they were severely threatened and commanded not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus.  What was their response?  In Acts 4:20 we read their reply, “…we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.”

Where did this boldness come from?  The answer is found earlier in Acts 4:13.  “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled.  And they realized that they had been with Jesus.” (NKJV) Friend, are you spending time daily with Jesus?  Are you daily filled with the Holy Spirit”  “You shall RECEIVE, You shall BE.”  When Christ is our first love and we are filled with Him, we cannot help but speak of Him everywhere we go.  Sharing Christ with others will be as natural as an artesian well overflowing from within our innermost being.

Last night, after the Bible study at SweetWater, one of the men shared a story with me.  He said that years ago he heard the story of a man in Brazil that was saved at an evangelistic crusade.  The man immediately wanted to serve the Lord and tell others what had happened to him.  However, some of the leaders cautioned him and said to him, “You cannot do that until you have been trained.”  But, the man said that he could not take the time for that just now.  Two years later, this man returned to the town where he had been saved.  The leaders of the church asked him where he had been and what had he been doing?  The man replied, “I have started several churches and we have seen hundreds come to Christ.”  The leaders said, “How could you do that?  You have not received training?”  The man said, “I just told them all about Jesus.”   YOU SHALL RECEIVE.  YOU SHALL BE.

Until next time–in Christ’s love,                                                                                                                                                                                     Allen